Health and safety fines against companies have risen significantly in the past year as a result of new sentencing guidelines that came into force on 1 February 2016. According to Osborne Clarke, which made a Freedom of Information Act request along with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, the largest fine was £5m for the Alton Towers theme park rollercoaster crash. A further 19 fines of £1m or more included Foodles Production’s’ fine of £1.6m for actor Harrison Ford’s broken leg while filming Star Wars: the Force Awakens. The largest 20 fines cost a total of £38.6m, compared to £13.5m in 2015 and £4.3m in 2014.
09 February 2017
Big fines
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch
Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice
Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr
Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team
Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown
Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team
NEWS
NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
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